YARD TRIMMINGS

No matter what the season, Annapolis residents take pride in the well-being of their lawns and properties. We have some helpful tips for you. If you prefer to dispose of your grass clippings, leaves, twigs, small branches, etc., instead of recycling them into your yard, the City of Annapolis Yard Trimmings Division collects every other week. Schedule.

How to Prepare Yard Trimmings:

Yard Recycling services include:

1. Yard Trimming Collection: Grass clippings, leaves, garden wastes (no dirt, gravel or rocks) and small branches.
2. Christmas Tree Collection: Provided on your regular yard waste collection days.

Yard Trimmings consist of grass clippings, discarded plants, leaves, branches and brush. DO NOT INCLUDE: Rocks or dirt, household garbage or trash, food waste, hazardous waste, animal waste, dead animals, metal items, lumber or construction debris.

PREPARATION:

• Place yard trimmings at the curb the night before your collection day.
• Tie branches, vines and brush together with natural fiber rope or twine so that they can be picked up as a bundle measuring no more than 2 feet by 4 feet. Wire, nylon and plastic get caught in our grinder and are not compostable.
• Place your leaves, grass clippings and other loose yard trimmings in marked, brown PAPER leaf bags, open refuse containers or cardboard boxes. Do not use plastic bags.
• Plastic bags, flower pots, broken tools, rocks, etc., are not compostable and require extra time and expense to remove. Foreign objects can damage our grinding machine and expose our workers to serious danger from flying objects
• Mark all yard trimmings by making an "X" with paint or masking tape on the container or bag, so that the collection crews may discern yard trimmings from refuse.

Please be considerate of these guidelines when preparing your yard trimmings for collection. Your cooperation will help us to make better use of your tax dollars and allow us more time to assist you.

Our crews continually process yard trimmings, creating mulch and make it available for City residents free of charge. It may be obtained at the Truxtun Park Swimming Pool Parking Lot. As we accumulate the processed mulch, we deliver it to this area. It is not monitored and, therefore, available on a "first-come, first-serve" basis. In addition to the mixed mulch, in the early spring, there may be pine mulch from the processed Christmas trees. Pine mulch is especially helpful to azaleas.

1. GRASS: Mow your grass to the proper height. Most people don't mow their lawns often enough, and when they do, they mow it too short. This weakens and kills the grass, allowing for bare soil areas that increase runoff and weed encroachment. Most grasses shouldn't be mowed to heights shorter than 3 inches.

   Instead of bagging, leave grass clippings on your lawn as natural compost. They decompose quickly and act as a natural fertilizer. These clippings release nitrogen into the soil, reducing the amount needed for purchased fertilizers. The layer of clippings also helps hold in moisture, reducing the need for watering during dry spells. Another good alternative is to compost the grass clippings with brush, dried leaves and other garden materials.

2. LEAVES: Leaves are another garden secret. Composted, they are a source of "brown" materials; shredded, they can be used as mulch (leaves and chipped brush and twigs can be used as mulch around the bottoms of trees and plants. Mulch holds moisture so you won't have to water plants as often. It also controls weeds and keeps plants from freezing when temperatures drop). In wooded areas, where they should be left on the ground, they provide nutrients and retain moisture on the ground.

3. COMPOSTING: Ask any good gardener - compost is "garden gold". It improves your soil and the plants growing in it. By using compost, you return organic matter to the soil in a usable form; it breaks up heavy-clay soils as well as adding nutrients. Composting reduces the volume of degradable materials by 70 to 80 percent. It's the most practical and convenient way to handle your yard wastes. It's easier and cheaper than bagging wastes and hauling them to the street. Some of the best materials are grass clippings, leaves and vegetable peelings .... the very items you'd normally have hauled away. What's left is a rich, crumbly mixture that is excellent for "amending" soils, mulching plants, trees and shrubs, and providing garden nutrients (reducing the need for costly peat moss, mushroom compost, etc.)

   Good Garden Compost Recipe:

   Layer: Equal amounts of "brown" waste (shredded leaves, straw, uncolored paper products (shredded newspaper is OK), "green" waste (grass clippings, leaves, and fruit & vegetable scraps, topsoil (to provide organisms needed for decomposition).

Include:

• Flowers, old plants, egg shells, old potting soil, twigs, annual weeds, coffee grounds/filters and tea bags.

Do NOT include:

• Diseased plants, weeds with seeds, dog and cat feces, meat or fish parts, dairy items, or oily foods.

Add: Water (keep the pile moist like a damp sponge, not wet) and air (compost bins should have slats for air circulation).

Mix: Occasionally turn the pile with a pitchfork, shovel or aerating tool to speed the decomposition process.

This mix creates a dark and crumbly humus, with no resemblance to the original components. The entire process takes three to eighteen months. (If the compost begins to have an unpleasant odor, it's because it's too wet or hasn't been mixed often enough... allowing air to mix with it.).